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Massive Chicago Master Plan Bridges Downtown Chasm

A speculative master plan for Chicago's West Loop would add a new layer to downtown's complex multi-level weaving of street strata and infrastructure with a highway cap park.

"In cooperation with developer Fifield Companies, [Scott] Sarver and his firm [smdp] have fleshed out a masterplan that calls for 10 million square feet of new office space in the West Loop in 10 years," reports Chris Bentley. "The plan also calls for a 10-to-15-acre park covering the trench of the Kennedy Expressway, which forms a barrier between the West Loop and downtown. Alan Schachtman, executive vice president of Fifield, called this hypothetical green a Millennium Park for the West Loop."

"Chicago’s downtown long ago spilled over the boundaries that traditionally defined the Loop, creating a 10-square-mile 'mega-Loop' with growth to rival any city in the country. Sarver said that, physically, the city will have to continue expanding west. Streeterville and River North are already developed, the South Loop lacks public transportation and accessibility compared to its western counterpart, Sarver said, and the area has a secret weapon: fiber optic cables."